


Return

by Seraina (seraina_doom)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 08:04:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11287098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraina_doom/pseuds/Seraina
Summary: After F.P. Jones was arrested, Cheryl thought it'd be over. But everything was far from it. Her brother was still dead and Riverdale was moving on. And all she has to remind her of the death is the son of her brother's killer. Set During Episode 12, slight cannon divergence.





	Return

**Author's Note:**

> "You were supposed to grow old. Reckless, unfrightened, and old,  
> you were supposed to grow old.
> 
> Return. You were supposed to return."  
> \- Return, OkGo

The day that Forsythe Pendleton Jones, II was arrested for Jason’s murder, Cheryl went to school in a daze. Everyone kept asking her if it was okay, if she felt better, if suddenly Jason was finally at peace. She answered her friends and was polite enough to respond to the inquiries of teachers. She wished they would all go away. None of them even cared except to try to show her how good they were as people because they cared so much. Please, she wasn’t stupid. That’s not how the world worked.

She was more shaken by the fact that Alice Cooper and her family were throwing the fact that JayJay and Polly are third cousins like it was an immoral and criminal act. There’s nothing illegal about third cousins being together. It just means that they shared a set of great-great grandparents. Now she lost the last connection to her brother and would likely never get to know those babies. And the rest of the town was just done. Someone is in jail, case closed, Jason’s memory is now part of the town history and everyone’s already moved on to gossiping about the Joneses.

They were invisible before, South Side trailer trash that used to be big in his town. She remembered Forsythe Pendleton Jones, Sr., who owned the glass bottle factory just South of Riverdale that used to bottle Blossom syrup. He’d been a kind old man, sneaking her and Jason pieces of candy when no one else was watching. Sometimes he brought the boy who would be called Jughead to play with them and she envied him then. That he’d had a nice grandfather instead of a stern and scary man that made Monty Burns look like Santa Claus. 

But her father changed all that. He switched from glass bottles to plastic and put the Jones Glassworks out of business, ruining the lives of the Joneses and most of the factory workers. That single act plunged part of the town into poverty as a good portion of the workforce had no other job skills. She let her thoughts drift long enough and focused, spotting the one and only Jughead approaching. 

Tall, dark and dangerous, the type that she’d been warned about. Of course, that was all a lie. She knew he was more innocent than even the “boy next door” Archie Andrews, who seemed to be working his way through the female population by the power of his obliviousness. Handsome, sure, but he was so very stupid. Stupid people were tiring.

“Cheryl…I’m so sorry.” Jughead whispered and she hit him. She hadn’t meant to hit him but once she started she couldn’t stop. How dare he of all people apologize to her. He lost his entire family to jail and separation, and now the word on the street was that his mother didn’t even want him. She screamed and slapped and punched him, and he just stood there taking her abuse.

She bit back a sob and pulled away, running out of the cafeteria and down the hallway. She found herself in a random alcove of lockers, hugging her knees to her chest, her skirt was probably ruined by now.

The light above her flickered and a shadow fell over her. Hands were raised. “Feel better?”

“No.” She glared at Jughead as he sat down beside her, his elbow just barely touching hers.

“Me either.” He rested his head against the locker and looked straight ahead. She was grateful that he didn’t look at her right now.

“What’s going to happen now?” Her voice wobbled in the half-whisper.

“Now all the dirty little secrets come out. The ones at the bottom will sell out to turn in their bosses. Arrests will be made, no matter who and how guilty. It’s going to be ugly.” He sighed and dug his fingers into his beanie, pulling the knit hat down over his eyes for a moment before letting it spring back into shape.

She knew now where she’d gone wrong a few weeks ago. She tried to replace Jason with Archie, but Archie only looked like her brother. Jughead was intelligent and a realist. He didn’t care too much about hurting other peoples’ feelings. She acted without thinking, leaning against his shoulder, curling her knees up against her chest. He stiffened a little, almost startled by the contact but then wrapped an arm around her. “You’re strong, Cheryl. You’ll make it through this.”

She smiled a little, happy for the moment curled into Jughead’s arms. “You too Forsythe. I know you’ll finish your novel and make sure everyone remembers Jay Jay.”

“I’ll send you the first copy once it’s printed.” He seemed surprised by her endorsement. She figured he’d had self-esteem issues. Constant bullying, broken home, rejection by family and friends alike. He’d shrouded himself in the cloak of the loner and ended up being the only one in town that was true to himself.

“I’d like that.” She slowly untangled herself from the younger man, a weight lifted from her for the first time in months. “I’m getting out of here. Burgers on me. One time offer, take it or leave it.” And she walked off, smiling to herself as she heard him get up.

Jay Jay never came back. But at least there was someone still in this shitty town that she could rely on.


End file.
